


Made of These

by Colt_kun



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: If You Squint - Freeform, Nightmares, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-10-26 23:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17755298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colt_kun/pseuds/Colt_kun
Summary: After the Mark of Mastery exam, Sora is plagued with nightmares.Some short and sweet drabble to practice writing again. Post Dream Drop Distance, pre-KH3. SPOILERS FOR KH3 ENDING IN CHAPTER 3 (not necessary to read for story)





	1. Chapter 1

After the mark of mastery exam, Sora didn't sleep well.

The first two weeks or so after everyone in the tower would wake to Sora's screams. Except he wouldn't wake until someone shook him hard and repeatedly called his name. It scared Riku. His heart would pound so hard he felt it through his entire body every second in the delay it took for Sora to open his eyes as if saying maybe this time- maybe this time he wouldn't wake up.

Sleep spells didn't work. They dropped him off instantly, but made it harder for him to wake up again. Sora refused after the third try.

Sora's eyes grew dark circles and despite his cheerful smile, everyone could see the nightmares were taking their toll on them. He drooped from lack of energy and training sapped him into exhaustion. Kairi started insisting on post sparring cuddle sessions to "show no hard feelings" after dueling, but it was a ploy to get Sora to doze for at least a few minutes during the day.

One day as Kairi pet Sora's hair from where he had slumped against her chest, she looked up at Riku. "We have to do something," she whispered. Riku nodded, resting a hand on Sora's back. He could feel the tension even in the boy's slumber. They stayed that way in silence for too short a time before Sora jerked and his eyes flew open with a start.

"Sorry Kairi, I think I drooled on you," he said sheepishly. She smiled her usual kind way, although it seemed a little sad to Riku, and hugged him.

"It's totally okay."

Surprisingly Lea came to the obvious conclusion first. Riku woke himself with a panicked jolt, and after a confused moment of wondering why he was conscious he jolted up from his bed. Normally this was around the time Sora's screams would start. His pulse picked up. Maybe Sora fell so deep into his nightmares-

He dashed to Sora's room and flung open the door, fearing the worse. Shocked, Riku stared at Lea curled against Sora's back, one arm flung over the smaller boy. Lea cracked an eye open at him. "Shut the door already."

Lea had... a complicated relationship with Sora. Riku and Kairi whispered about it often - the conflict on Lea's face after smiling at the boy, the way he tended to not use his flames around him, and how he often watched Sora when they were in the same room over anyone else.

"It's because of Roxas, obviously." Kairi sighed as she wiped down the kitchen counter the next morning. "What was Roxas to Axe-Lea, anyways?"

"Probably the same thing Sora is to us," Riku answered as he finished the breakfast dishes. Then in a moment of bitterness, "I'm surprised Sora takes so easily to him."

Kairi paused, and almost conspiratorially, said, "Maybe that's Roxas inside him?"

"If you're going to talk about someone," Lea drawled, making Kairi and Riku both jump guiltily, "make sure they're not in hearing distance."

"We're sorry, A-Lea." Kairi actually looked apologetic, while Riku didn't really feel that way. He felt a touch guilty for that, actually.

"Now personally, I'd love to think it was our long-lost Roxas reaching out," Lea continued, moving to fetch a bottle drink from the old fashioned ice box Yen Sid magicked. "Or even my natural charisma. But you both sell your bundle of spikes and smiles short - he just likes /everybody/." He snorted a derisive laugh. "Against some better character judgements, really."

"Did he sleep better?" Riku asked. "Last night. With you there?"

"He kicks, so my shins are bruised. Some tossing and turning. But as you heard, no screaming." Lea shrugged. "He sleeps like Roxas did."

Then he looked like he hadn't meant to really say that. He awkwardly drank from the bottle to hide his expression. "You two-" he motioned with a finger to them, "Need to sort your stuff out." He laughed at their faces, and left them on that note.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Yen Sid watched their practice against targets he magicked to move and swing back to hit them if struck wrong. For being a master, Riku got the special treatment of the target actively attacking before being struck. Lucky him.

"Precision is of utmost importance, Princess Kairi," Yen Sid instructed as she rubbed her side after a return blow. "Speed will come with time if you have precision. Lea-" he continued calmly although his back was to the older man, "Best lower that gesture before the target _returns_ the favor."

Riku dodged and focused on his own target, trying to rechannel that energy of flow motion. Sliding at the target and spiraling up - why was it so hard now?

Light shattered his peripheral vision, almost before he heard Sora's "Thunda-" then ended in a shrill cry of pain. He landed in a crumpled heap with the keyblade a short distance from him.

"Sora!" Scared voices all rang out at once. Riku found himself sliding easily and arriving at Sora's side first as the keyblade whisked itself away. His fingertips were burned, but it seemed the glove had taken the brunt of the damage.

"I'm okay," Sora wheezed as he tried to sit up. Riku steadied his shoulders as the boy listed to the side. "I'm-"

"Not okay," Lea spat while Kairi concentrated on gathering Cura about her. "You're going to-"

"Axel you're not helping!" Kairi snapped. She soothed away the burns on Sora's hand. Sora gave a sheepish and soft thanks in return.

"Sora." Yen Sid's voice still sounded cool and calm, "If your decline continues, you may have to refrain from training for your own safety and of those around you." Sora quickly shook his head.

"Sorry Master, the spell just got away from me." Lea gave Riku a look that he passed on to Kairi. Sora had the best grip on magic out of any of them, except with fire. Even Lea admitted he wasn't great at controlling the flames once they started.

"Retire for the evening," Yen Sid instructed. Sora opened his mouth to protest. "The power of waking will not come to you through brute force." Sora looked ashamed for a moment, then obediently turned to the staircase and trudged up it. Yen Sid glanced at the three of them standing there, watching the brunette go. "Return to your practice."

After training was declared over - all sporting a few new bruises - Kairi and Riku found Sora at the table in the common room. He leaned over a book with his forehead propped up on both hands, staring down at it with intense concentration. Next to him a mug steamed with floating star shaped marshmallows. The yellow one made Riku a little homesick.

"What's that?" Kairi asked with interest, peering down at the text. A diagram was drawn with arrows pointing every which way. Riku caught something about subjects and chambers.

"A textbook the King gave me," Sora mumbled as he kept his eyes on the book. "He thought it would help if I could understand the nature of heart collection and protection."

Riku slid into the seat next to him and let himself take a sip of Sora's cocoa. " _Is_ it helping?" Sora gave a groan halfway to a whine and let his head slip from his hands to smack into the book. Kairi jerked her hands forward in concern as Sora started to groan about a general dislike for textbooks. Kairi and Riku shared a small but strained grin. Some things never changed. Sora yanked his head up startling them as he got louder.

"And I don't get WHY these subjects went to sleep IN THE FIRST PLACE and all this stuff about vanishing hearts and a weird limbo - how is that at all relevant to the power of waking?!" He finished with a half growl and thumping back in his chair with his arms crossed high on his chest.

"Sora..." Kairi gently started, inhaling slightly, "Did you sleep better when -Lea was there?"

Sora sat still for a moment, then sighed and let his arms fall away. He gave his sheepish grin and scratched at the back of his head. "I guess, yeah? The dreams weren't too bad."

"So you still had bad dreams?" Kairi's disappointment came through.

"Not as bad though!" Riku gave him a critical once over, and thought Sora looked a little better. Still tired - but not bone-deep exhausted. He rested his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Would you like one of us to sleep with you tonight?" he asked.

Sora hesitated, then, "if you wouldn't mind."

Kairi beamed at him. "Not at all." She looked to Riku, who gave a slight smile in return. "We can take turns."

Yen Sid didn't seem to mind the proposed solution, although Riku noticed the door to Sora's bedroom was suddenly magicked away when Kairi trooped down the hall with her pillow and a blanket in her white pajamas. Something faltered in Riku's vision, and he pressed his hands firmly to his eyes. Namine. He still had a promise he had, but with a pang of regret knew that fulfilling it fell squarely on Sora's shoulders.

Would he ever not make life harder for the boy? His heart ached.

A slightly bigger bed had been put in Sora's room - or his old one had been stretched? - when Riku peered in to see Kairi fluffing her pillow and setting it aside Sora's. He was under his blanket and she was on top of it with her own. Riku laughed to himself. They were like little kids.

Yet he spent almost the entire night, wide awake, listening for Sora's cry. None came. When he got up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, he ran into Lea coming back from the kitchen with a bag of chips.

"Can't sleep either?" Lea offered Riku the open end of the bag. Riku took a chip and sighed with a shake of his head. Lea made a noise of commiseration and walked back towards his room.

"Axe-Lea," Riku softly called down after him. The redhead looked back expectantly with a chip halfway in his mouth. "Do nobodies... dream?"

Lea bit the chip and swallowed. "I didn't," he said. "Nobody else at Castle Oblivion did either. Until Roxas came along." He looked a little wistful. "I think we all envied him a bit for it." Then without another word he went into his room and quietly shut the door.

Riku stopped by Sora's door on his return from the bathroom and looked in. Sora's forehead was creased with strain, and Kairi had her arm slung across him. But he wasn't screaming. Maybe that was the best they could hope for.

The day Yen Side ran them ragged with exercises that burned through all of them and left them bone-deep exhausted. Sora nearly faceplanted his soup served by walking broomsticks at dinner, saved only by Lea's quick hand. Riku practically pulled the boy to bed, stripping off Sora's jacket and shoes before taking off his own and falling next to him. Sora was already snoring gently.

Riku meant to stay awake. He really did.

The beast lumbered behind him. Riku turned quickly, his feet almost floating off the ground. He could see Sora, tiny against the monster, with keyblade in shaky hands. "Sora!" he yelled. The brunette turned, and his eyes widened in surprise before he was forced to dodge roll. Riku lunged forward, but his legs didn't move.

His _wings_ did.

It dully echoed in his thoughts that he was a dream eater again. That wasn't important now. He landed next to Sora. "Together?"

Sora grinned, and nodded. "Together!"

The next morning, Sora woke Riku up with bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks. He laughed at breakfast, and everyone looked visibly more relaxed. Lea sneaked hot sauce on Sora's eggs, and Sora kicked him under the table. He still wobbled a little around practice time, but Yen Sid refrained from removing him early.

All three of them slept together the next night. And the night after that. Lea substituted in when Kairi and Riku were both called away on minor missions. Riku tried not to think Sora slept best with him there, although that may have just been his pride speaking. The bed was crammed and usually too hot, covers kicked off, but no one complained.

After that? Everything just... fell into place. One night as Riku read a book with his head propped up on his arm, Kairi said from Sora's other side, "So... _our_ Sora?"

"Our Sora," he agreed.

"Guys," Sora mumbled, "I'm right here."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiny chapter bonus.
> 
> Spoilers.

They spent one last night at the tower. They collected their things and put them all in boxes to take back home with them, stacked up along the wall. It was kind of a marvel how much stuff accumulated over time. The rooms felt empty afterwards.

As he walked down the hall to finally go crash, Riku glanced in Axel's room. He was fast asleep, with Xion and Roxas curled under either arm. The three refused to separate, even for a moment, Xion had to borrow clothes and pajamas from Kairi. Roxas wore an extra shirt of Axel's. As Riku watched, Roxas twitched a bit. Axel automatically mumbled in his sleep. "S'okay, Ssora..."

Riku's heart lurched. He wrenched himself away from the doorway. He went to their - Sora's - his and Kairi's - room.

She sat on the edge of the bed, hugging the pillow from the middle tightly. Her shoulders trembled. Riku sat behind her and pressed his hand to the small of her back. "We'll find him," he soothed. "He'll... _he'll_ find _us_."

She nodded, and looked up with a teary smile. "I know he will."

The bed had never felt bigger.


End file.
